Question:
We have a forty-five-year-old Flowering Pear in the middle of what was once a lawn. We occasionally water it with 'gray water' from the washing machine rinse cycle, but the tree does not look good. I would like to know if it should be watered more often.Answer:
- Flowering Pears are an ideal shade tree that thrives in turf areas but is not drought-tolerant even after a wet winter.
- The short answer is yes. It requires more frequent watering than you're giving it now, especially with our recent extensive heat wave.
- You didn't realize it, but it started to show signs of stress very early last year when it was dormant, like in August or September, after the leaves turned a maroon color.
- You also might see burnt foliage or die back at the tree's top and sides. Fireblight, a bacterial disease, can cause dieback, so you could have both of these problems. So, watering this tree regularly is very important to keep it healthy.
- The water shouldn't be applied to the trunk but around the tree's drip line, as it probably has a fair amount of surface roots.
- I'd construct a six to eight-inch high watering basin around the tree that extends from the trunk to the drip line. When the temperatures are less than ninety degrees, I'd water every seven to ten days and more often when it's warmer.
- A three-inch layer of mulch is strongly recommended to help insulate the soil and conserve moisture.
- I'd fill the basin up two to three times, to begin with, to add back moisture to the soil.
- Another option is to eliminate the basin and use a soaker hose. The soaker hose is placed in circles radiating from the trunk to the drip line.
- Next, measure the diameter of the tree trunk. With trunks smaller than two inches, apply one gallon per inch; for larger trunks over, apply two gallons per application. Next, take the area of the canopy and make it a square. Once you determine the square footage (LxW), multiply it by .623 (gallons/sq.ft./inch).
- The average 5/8-inch soaker hose will disperse around one inch of water to plants over three and a half hours, which could be done every three to four weeks. A water timer attached to a hose bid simplifies the task. You turn it on manually, and it turns itself off.
- A three-inch layer of mulch under the canopy will help conserve moisture. Unfortunately, you may not see much of a difference this year, as most damage has already occurred.